Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (born May 2, 1964) is an American Republican politician currently serving in his 2nd term in the

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

, representing Legislative District 36, Maryland's Upper Eastern Shore which includes

Caroline Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

Cecil Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada *Cecil, Alberta, ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

& Queen Anne's Counties. Hershey served as the Senate

Minority Whip The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...

from 2015 until 2020. He was replaced as Senate

by Michael Hough. Before being appointed to the Senate in 2013, he served 2 years in the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

Early life

Hershey grew up in Bowie, Maryland and attended Bowie High School. He went on to James Madison University for two years and then transferred to

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

. He earned his B.C.E. in Civil Engineering from the

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univ ...

in 1987. In 2002, he received his MBA from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

Career

Steve Hershey was elected to the

Maryland State House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis ...

in 2010 representing District 36. He was a member of the House Environmental Matters Committee where he served on the Banking, Economic development, Science and Technology Subcommittee. He was also a member of the Business Climate Work Group. On September 18, 2013, he was appointed to the

by Governor

Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. O'Malley ...

following the retirement of the Senator

E. J. Pipkin Edward Joseph Pipkin Jr. (born November 1, 1956) is an American activist, politician, and Republican former member of the Maryland State Senate, had represented Maryland's 36th Senate district, and was first elected in 2002 and served until 201 ...

. He was sworn into the Senate on October 1, 2013 In the Senate, Hershey serves on the Senate Finance Committee, where he sits on the Health Policy Subcommittee. He is also a member of the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, Legislative Policy Committee and the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics. Senator Hershey is also on the Maryland Economic Development and Business Climate Commission and is a member of the Strategic Energy Investment Advisory Board and the Maryland Offshore Wind Business Development Advisory Committee. In 2015, Hershey was elected by his peers to serve as

in the Senate Republican Caucus, a position he held until 2020. Under Governor Robert Ehrlich’s Administration, he served as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Assistant Secretary of the Department of Planning.

Republican Party activity

In 2014, Hershey served as a member on Governor-elect

Larry Hogan Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...

’s Transition Team and was a 2012 Delegate at the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

. He served as President of Queen Anne's County Republican Club, 2002–04 and Chair of the Queen Anne's County Tricentennial Celebration Committee, 2004. In November 2022, Hershey was selected to be the State Senate minority leader, replacing

Bryan Simonaire Bryan Warner Simonaire (born September 6, 1963) is an American politician who serves as a Maryland State Senator representing District 31, which encompasses much of northern Anne Arundel County's Baltimore suburbs. Background Bryan Simonaire w ...

of Anne Arundel County.

Other career

Prior to serving in the Maryland General Assembly, Hershey was Vice President of Project and Development Services at

Jones Lang LaSalle Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) is a global commercial real estate services company, founded in the United Kingdom with offices in 80 countries. The company also provides investment management services worldwide, including services to insti ...

, a commercial real estate services company and The Staubach Company. He also held executive management positions for

Trammell Crow Company Trammell Crow Company is a real estate development, investment, and property management company. It has been a subsidiary of CBRE Group since 2006. History The company was founded by Trammell Crow Fred Trammell Crow (June 10, 1914 – January 1 ...

, Planet Hollywood International and Prime Retail. Since 2015 he is the owner of a marine construction company based in Ocean City, Maryland.

Awards and honors

Senator Hershey was recently recognized with the Maryland Association of Counties Legislator of the Year award for his work defending local Highway User Revenues.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hershey, Stephen S. Living people 1964 births People from Washington, D.C. Catholic University of America alumni George Washington University alumni Republican Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Republican Party Maryland state senators 21st-century American politicians